In-depth Analysis of AI Layer 1 Projects: Five Pioneers in Building a Decentralized AI Ecosystem

With the rapid development of AI technology, traditional blockchain architectures can no longer meet the high-performance computing and complex data processing needs required by AI applications. This has led to the emergence of Layer 1 blockchain platforms optimized specifically for AI, showcasing diverse characteristics in terms of technical architecture, application scenarios, and business models. This article provides an in-depth analysis of five leading AI Layer 1 projects: Bittensor, Vana, Kite AI, Nillion, and Sahara AI.

Bittensor: Decentralization AI Network Infrastructure

Bittensor, as an early explorer in the blockchain AI field, is dedicated to building an open decentralized artificial intelligence collaboration network. Its goal is to break down the centralized barriers in traditional AI research and development, allowing more participants to contribute and benefit together.

The technical architecture of Bittensor adopts a dual-layer structure design:

• Root Network (Mainnet): Responsible for the coordination, verification, and issuance management of the TAO tokens.
• Subnet Ecosystem: Developing specialized solutions for specific AI application scenarios

Ecological Development Progress

• The number of subnets has expanded to over 64, covering various AI application scenarios such as text generation, trading signals, and data labeling.
• The number of active users has reached 140,000, doubling compared to the previous year.
• The total market valuation of the subnet exceeds 100 million USD, with a daily trading volume maintained around 45 million USD.
• Institutional participation has increased, Grayscale has included TAO in its Decentralization AI fund.

Bittensor's recent dTAO (dynamic TAO) system upgrade is an important innovation in its economic model, optimizing the distribution mechanism of the token TAO. The new mechanism introduces a market-based dynamic resource allocation system, achieving a more efficient and fair resource distribution through subnet tokens (Alpha tokens).

The most active subnets currently include:

• Subnet Targon 4: Focused on AI inference services for text generation
• Subnet 64 Chutes: Provides API interfaces for various LLMs.
• Subnet 8 PTN: Focused on generating trading signals in the financial sector.
• Subnet 52 Dojo: Focused on Data Annotation

Vana: Data Sovereignty and Value Reconstruction Platform

The Vana project focuses on solving the issues of ownership and value distribution of personal data. It establishes an ecosystem where users truly own and control their own data, while being able to derive economic benefits from it.

Vana's technical architecture consists of five core components:

1. Data Liquidity Layer
2. Data Portability Layer
3. General Connection Group
4. Non-custodial data storage
5. Application Ecosystem

Latest Development Dynamics

• In February 2025, YZi Labs received strategic investment, and Binance founder CZ joined as an advisor.
• A data project has been built covering multiple fields such as social media data, financial forecasting data, and more.
• Recently organized a hackathon event during Eth Denver, offering high rewards to incentivize developers to build DataDAO and AI applications based on Vana data.

Kite AI: Technical Breakthrough of AI-Native Public Chain

Kite AI is a native Layer 1 blockchain project focused on the AI field built on the Avalanche framework. It proposes four core technological innovations:

1. PoAI Consensus Mechanism: Precisely track the value contributions of data, models, and AI agents through an on-chain verifiable contribution record system.
2. Composable AI Subnet: Supports developers to build industry-specific AI collaboration ecosystems on demand.
3. AI Native Execution Layer: Specifically designed to handle AI computation tasks, such as inference, embedding, and fine-tuning/training.
4. Decentralization data engine: Ensure that data creators receive fair benefits in the AI workflow.

Development Status

• Incentive testnet launched on February 6, 2025, performing exceptionally well.
• Strong project background, created by an experienced Silicon Valley team.
• Secured investments from top institutions such as General Catalyst, Hashed, Hashkey, and Samsung Next.
• Establish technical cooperation with Eigenlayer, Sui, Avalanche, AWS, etc.
• As a selection committee member for the Avalanche in the InfraBUILDL(AI) program, promote the development of the Avalanche artificial intelligence ecosystem.

Nillion: Frontier Exploration of Privacy Computing

Nillion redefines the way sensitive data is processed through its unique "blind computation" technology. Its technical architecture integrates various cutting-edge privacy protection technologies:

• Multi-Party Computation (MPC)
• Fully Homomorphic Encryption ( FHE )
• Zero-Knowledge Proof ( ZKP )
• Nada language

The network architecture of Nillion consists of three main layers: the processing layer, the coordination layer, and the connection layer.

Latest Development Progress

• The mainnet is scheduled to launch in March 2025.
• Completed $25 million financing in October 2024, with a total financing amount of $45 million.
• Establish integration relationships with multiple mainstream public chains such as NEAR Protocol, Aptos, Arbitrum, Mantle, and Sei.
• Collaborate with projects such as Ritual, Crush AI, Skillful AI, and Virtuals Protocol in the AI ecosystem.

Sahara AI: Building a New Economic Platform for AI Assets

Sahara AI aims to build a "Human-AI Collaboration Network" that allows ordinary users, developers, and enterprises to participate in the creation, deployment, and monetization of AI assets.

The technical architecture consists of three key components:

1. Sahara Blockchain
2. AI Infrastructure
3. Sahara AI Marketplace

Latest development process

• The Beta version testnet of the first phase data service platform will be launched in December 2024.
• The second phase of the testnet will be launched in February 2025.
• The public testnet named "SIWA" will be launched on March 10, 2025.
• The roadmap for 2024-2025 has been announced, including several key milestones.
• The incubator program will be launched on March 1, 2025, supporting AI x Web3 innovation projects.

AI Layer 1 is in a critical phase of rapid evolution, reconstructing the underlying architecture of AI technology through decentralized infrastructure. These platforms are breaking through the limitations of traditional centralized AI systems, building a more open, transparent, and efficient technological ecosystem, and promoting the development of artificial intelligence towards a more decentralized and collaborative direction.